Arc Angels
by Jiu-jitsu dude
Summary: Jaune, Ruby, and Yang gather what remains of the forces of Remnant for a last stand against Salem.


**Just a dabble to take a look at what the possible end of years of war with Salem look like. I've always imagined the end times would lead to strange practices, and I admit I stole more than a little imagery for Jaune and his troops from Ky Kiske and the Holy Order from Guilty Gear. Enjoy!**

 **Arc Angels**

Jaune Arc stood in front of his battle line and inspected the troops.

No he thought, not the troops, _his_ troops, _his_ brothers and sisters, _his_ Arc Angels.

They stood in perfect order, draped in white robes and bronze armor soon the be stained red as they were in every battle. Row after row of spears piercing the sky and the impenetrable wall of gleaming shields ready to break the black tide again.

He didn't have to turn to see them to know they were close, he could hear the thunder that was not thunder as the thousands strong Grimm host closed in on the last bastion of the free people of Remnant, Atlas. This would be it he knew, the last battle. Today would decide the end of it, one way or another.

He was broken out of his musings by the familiar sounds of the Dragoons' War Drums. He smirked a little at that, he supposed that they had all become a little…eccentric as the war had progressed. But who could blame them? A desperate war required desperate measures.

The Dragoons, Yang's Dragoons, started their battle ritual with the War Drums, which always led into the chant…

 _Burn!_

 _Burn!_

 _Burn!_

The wind carried their voices over to him and he spied the final part of the ritual…Yang's Semblance. He watched as her pyre grew brighter and brighter, standing as a beacon for her troops, having long moved past the need for physical pain to activate it…there were plenty of emotional scars for that.

The Dragoons whipped themselves into a frenzy, mimicking their commander, becoming berserkers, the ultimate shock troops. They were the hammer, smashing Grimm lines and sowing chaos in every battle, leaving openings for the most feared troops in the allied armies…

The Reapers. Ruby's host of warriors far and away had accrued the highest number of kills in the war. They were a scythe, a threshing machine, that cut through the scattered lines left in the Dragoons' wake. The two sisters completed each other as always, Yang's troops being strong enough to piece any line that would have pushed Ruby's back, but lacking the pure, unadulterated capacity for killing that Ruby's did.

The Reapers' rituals were always more subdued that their sister forces, preferring silent reflection before battle, but they were still there. Jaune knew that if you were close enough, you could hear the clinking of coins being handed out across the line; payment for the boatman for enemies and allies like. The Reapers believed that they were sending wayward souls home when they killed, bringing peace to tortured souls. And Ruby? Well, Ruby was the greatest shepherd of them all.

There had been others over the years of course.

His brother Ren had led the Rangers, a reconnaissance force legendary for its ability to travel deep into the Grimm claimed territories where no other army emerged from again. They had been vital in providing intelligence on troop movements, filling in the communication gap left by the fall of the CCT.

Nora had led the Valkyries, the hope of cut off and dying troops everywhere. They had acted as the allies' reserves, leaping into the worst parts of the any battle when the line started to collapse with suicidal bravery and delivering warriors from death's door.

They had died as they lived, together. Together-together too thank Oum, he was glad they found that peace before the end.

Dr. Watts and Hazel had ambushed the Rangers, hoping to draw in the Valkyries and cripple the allied forces beyond repair. It had almost worked, but what they hadn't expected was to lose their own lives in the gambit. Ren and Nora saw to that.

Then there had been the Fang, Blake's handpicked band of assassins. Built from the ruins of the White Fang and those humans with a talent for stealth, Jaune wondered how many battles had been won off the edge of their blades. The Fang struck wherever the enemy leadership had been, cutting the head off the snake time and again, allowing the rest of the army to rally and push the Grimm back.

They had died preserving the rest of the army from a rout. Tyrion had cut his way into their flank and the army had folded in on itself. They knew it had been over, that that was the end of the resistance. They knew it all the way until Blake had led the Fang into a suicidal assault on Tyrion himself. When the scorpion faunus fell, there had been a pause, only for a moment, but enough to reform ranks and fall back in order. It had only cost them some of their dearest friends.

The Schnees' Sabers had been their saviors on more than on occasion as well, as the two beautiful sisters had led the remainder of the Atlas military after Ironwood's fall. The worked in perfect unison, driving back wave and wave of Grimm assaults with tactical brilliance and deadly Dust manipulation. But the once great fleet of Atlas airships had dwindled after each battle until only one supercarrier remained. Cinder's forces had been the ones sent to knock it from the sky, and he supposed she had. Winter and Weiss' last act had been to drop the airship directly onto Cinder's position, he'd never seen such a devastating explosion before or since.

Lastly, there were his Arc Angels. A ridiculous name he always thought, but they had insisted. They were the Vanguard, holding the line and turning back the tide of Grimm as Yang and Ruby began their bloody work. They weren't flashy, but then Jaune had never been, but no one ever passed their shields. They were the line.

The Grimm were close now, it was time to start their own ritual. Qrow had been right all those years ago, people weren't super religious now days, but the Angels were. They believed that each battle they entered was a form of following asleep, a nightmare that they would wake from to rejoin their friends and family, and so Juane led them in the prayer.

 _Now I lay me down to sleep,_

 _I pray that Oum my soul to keep,_

 _If I should die before I wake,_

 _I pray that he my soul should take_

With that, spears met shields and a new thunder rose to meet the Grimms'. There was no chanting, there was no need, only the sound of steel on steel, followed by marching feet as they moved forward. Their advance wasn't like the charges of the Reapers or the Dragoons, it was slow, steady. A determined advance into the sea of black bodies that the other forces could fall in behind.

Something was wrong though, something was different. At the center of the black was a gap, a space that Grimm swirled around but did not invade. His eyes widened when he saw why.

She was here…Salem stood at the center of the Grimm forces and stared down the humans and faunus foolish enough to challenge her. She had never been at a battle before. She must have wanted to see the end herself.

He looked to his captains to ensure that they saw what he did, Cardin and Yats, and they nodded back gravely, they all new what this meant.

The ensuing roar from the Dragoons let him know they were not the only ones to see the dark queen. They poured forth as a column of fire and fury with Yang at their head. He had never seen Grimm lines so easily pierced before, the Dragoons parted the black sea and flew like an arrow through the dark forces to reach the queen.

It was magnificent, it was something songs would be written about…it was doomed. First the shock troops slowed, the weight of loses and Grimm tempering but not stopping their assault, but soon a run became a walk, a walk a crawl, and a crawl a halt. They were trapped, they were surrounded, they were being overrun.

Jaune's heart sunk at what he knew would come next, Ruby wouldn't abandon her sister. As if on Que, the Reapers began to pour into the gap left in the Dragoons' wake and fight their way toward their sister force. The Reapers were never meant for this type of pitched battle, they were glass cannons, the allied army was about to lose two-thirds of what little remained of them. There was only one choice to make.

He turned to Cardin. "Sound the horns." Cardin gave no argument as he relayed to order down the line. The Angels had _never_ sounded the horns, the horns signaled a charge, the antithesis of their defensive role, it was a call to die. Juane waited for the horns and wondered if the order would be followed or if he would charge into the Grimm alone, he did not have to wait long for his answer. The horns sounded, and instead of the confusion or silence he expected, his brothers and sisters shocked him yet again, the Arc Angels began to sing.

 _Now I lay me down to sleep,_

 _I pray that Oum my soul to keep,_

 _If I should die before I wake,_

 _I pray that he my soul should take_

He was already running into the breach, Yats and Cardin by his side, and as they drug the host of impossibly brave men and women in their wake, he'd never been prouder. They struck like a hurricane, bodies of men and Grimm alike flying into the sky. No one had expected the defensive line to hurl themselves into the storm, the shock gave them they smallest of edges. It would have to be enough.

He watched as Yats fell halfway to the Reapers and Dragoons, bellowing a mighty battle cry and carving a hole for those that followed him as his life-blood poured upon the ground. They fell in their dozens and white robes became crimson once more as they continued their impossible advance. There would be no retreat now, everything was wagered on this final advance.

The first miracle of the day was achieved when they reached the remains of the Reapers and Dragoons. Three forces became one as they circled together to form an island in the dark ocean. Jaune searched desperately for the other commanders, they would at least take this last journey together. He spotted the unmistakable red of Ruby in the crowd and pushed his way to her. She was standing over Yang's fallen form, a blank and vacant look in her eyes. He'd been too late, too late again, but there was a way to redeem himself today.

He shook Ruby awake and stared into her eyes. "I'm going to get you to her, you know what to do."

Her eyes hardened, her grip on Crescent Rose tightened, and she nodded.

He shouted for Cardin and was shocked to find to man by his side, bleeding from a dozen wounds.

"We're finishing this." He said. Cardin just grinned, turned and called to what remained of the Angels. The funeral march began, the Angels driving a wedge into the black horde as the Reapers and Dragoons followed in tow. They were falling too fast and moving too slow, he could see Salem, imagined that he could see the cruel smile on her face, but they'd never make it.

Cardin screamed beside him as a Grimm claw impaled his chest. Jaune leaped in front of the next strike on instinct, desperate to save someone today, and felt the claws dig into his left arm. His shield dropped uselessly to his side. He waited for the end, for the Grimm to consume him and then the rest of his brothers and sisters. He would have to wait a little longer. Cardin's mace took the creature's head clean off, Jaune stared in awe as Cardin gathered his Semblance for the last time and leapt forward into the sea of monsters. The explosion was deafening, nothing remained in its wake, not Cardin…and no Grimm.

Jaune yelled something unintelligible, a combination of grief and hope, as he ran into the gap Cardin had given his life for. He hacked to the left and right, blindly pressing forward, a man in search of air. He'd lost track of if anyone followed him anymore.

Then, suddenly, wonderfully, he was through. He'd entered the eye of the storm. His sword clattered uselessly to the ground as he fell to his knees in exhaustion, tears and blood streaming from his face in equal measure. When he looked up, he saw _her._

She stood waiting patiently, an almost kind, or perhaps proud, smile on her face; congratulating him for coming so far. She reached out her arms, inviting him into an embrace, inviting him to be at peace, to go home. Oum, how he wanted to go home. He shuffled slowly towards her and wrapped his one good arm around her, accepting the motherly embrace and staring into her eyes, shinning with her final victory over them.

He wanted to go home, but the was only one problem with her offer…Reapers were the ones that sent people home. Her eyes widened in shock as Crescent Rose pierced through his back and into her chest, pinning them together. He watched as that shock became horror as he smiled and tilted his head to the side to let Ruby's shinning eyes replace his own.

He was vaguely aware of a scream, and a blinding light. He wasn't sure if the light was real or in his head, but then, he supposed it didn't really matter anymore. He was going home.


End file.
